Abstract
The global demand for fish is rising and projected to increase for years to come. However, there is uncertainty whether this increased demand can be met by the conventional approaches of capture fisheries and fish farming because of wild stock depletion, natural resource requirements, and environmental impact concerns. One proposed complementary solution is to manufacture the same meat directly from fish cells, as cell-based fish. More than 30 ventures are competing to commercialize cell-based meat broadly, but the field lacks a foundation of shared scientific knowledge, which threatens to delay progress. Here, we recommend taking a research-focused, more open and collaborative approach to cell-based fish meat development that targets lean fish and an unlikely but very attractive candidate for accelerating research and development, the zebrafish. Although substantial work lies ahead, cell-based meat technology could prove to be a more efficient, less resource-intensive method of producing lean fish meat.
Highlights
Among several roles that it plays in our food system, including substantial income generation, in the Global South,[5] fish meat provides essential nutrition
We present a first target lean fish species, zebrafish, that is best suited to accelerate research and development, as the most understood and studied fish species in all the life sciences by far.[27,28,29]
A main conclusion from these predictive pieces, imperfect, is that the energy burden of cell-based meat is high,[30,113,114] which could be reduced through the use of decarbonized energy sources such as renewables. It is only after the commercial-scale cell-based lean fish approach is further developed that accurate assessments can be made, which consider inputs such as water, and cellulose that humans cannot directly digest
Summary
The global demand for fish is rising and projected to increase for years to come. There is uncertainty whether this increased demand can be met by the conventional approaches of capture fisheries and fish farming because of wild stock depletion, natural resource requirements, and environmental impact concerns. One proposed complementary solution is to manufacture the same meat directly from fish cells, as cellbased fish. We recommend taking a research-focused, more open and collaborative approach to cell-based fish meat development that targets lean fish and an unlikely but very attractive candidate for accelerating research and development, the zebrafish. Substantial work lies ahead, cell-based meat technology could prove to be a more efficient, less resource-intensive method of producing lean fish meat
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary 
Published Version (
Free)
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call